When the conductors in a flat conductor cable must be disengageably connected to conductors on a circuit board, it is common practice to use electrical connectors of a type comprising an insulating housing having contact terminals therein which are soldered to the conductors on the circuit board. The housing and the contact terminals are arranged such that the end of the flat conductor cable can be inserted into the housing and upon insertion, the conductors of the cable will be electrically contacted by the contact terminals. Other types of connectors for connecting flat conductor cable conductors to conductors on a circuit board are also known and most of them consist of an insulating housing containing contact terminals which conduct current from the cable conductors to the circuit board conductors.
The present invention is directed to the achievement of an improved and simplified connector for connecting the conductors of a flat conductor cable to conductors on a circuit board and which comprises a single one-piece stamped and formed device which holds the cable conductors directly against the circuit board conductors. A connector in accordance with the invention comprises a flat clip member having parallel spaced-apart coplanar support strips and a clip bar which extends between the support strips in a plane which is offset from the plane of the support strips. A plurality of cantilever springs extend from the clip bar obliquely towards and past the plane of the support strips.
These cantilever springs are located between the support strips, the spacing between the springs being the same as the spacing between the cable conductors and the circuit board conductors. The connector clip is mounted on the circuit board in straddling relationship to the circuit board conductors with the cantilever springs in alignment with the circuit board conductors. The end of the flat conductor cable is inserted beneath the clip bar and pushed parallel to the springs and the support strips until the cable is beneath the free ends of the springs and the cable conductors are against the circuit board conductors. The springs bear against the insulated top surface of the cable so that the circuit board conductors and the cable conductors are pressed against each other to establish electrical contact.